Arenac Eastern to host dodgeball tournament to support prom

TWINING — Arenac Eastern will be running a dodgeball tournament March 22.

The tournament is open to students in grades four through 12, as well as adults. Each group forms a team of six players, and there are four divisions: grades four through six, grades seven through nine, grades 10 through 12, and adults.The teams pay an entry fee to play — either $48 in advance, or $60 at the door — and can be boys, girls, or co-ed.

Arenac Eastern Principal Mike Bowman said the proceeds from the tournament will go toward the school juniors, who are planning the prom this year.

“They run the prom, and they are trying to raise money for that,” Bowman said. “All the money we raise here will go toward the prom.”

He said he introduced the idea from the last school he worked at to raise funds for the school library and the school’s CI classroom. It originally stemmed from a similar dodgeball fundraiser he had seen elsewhere, he said, but he figured he could run it more efficiently and get more people involved.

“I thought I could do better, and I did,” Bowman said. “I lowered the price and got as many kids and people involved as I could, even people our age that liked playing dodgeball back at school. It’s just fun.”

According to the rules, the first part of the tournament is a round-robin format, where each team plays opponents to seed the second round, a single-elimination portion. Each team is expected to play at least three times.

Each match has a four-minute time limit for one team or the other to eliminate the other side. If the timer runs out, the side with more players wins, or if equal numbers remain, the two play a one-minute, sudden-death overtime. In practice, Bowman said the games tend to go by very quickly, and rarely hit the time limit amidst all the “chucking and ducking.”

The games have four balls apiece: three regular sized ones, and one large ball. Additionally, Bowman said they are not the same hard rubber balls used in schools during his own childhood, but rather Gator Skin Dodgeballs, which are made of foam.

First-place prizes for each division include a team plaque and championship medals for each of the winning players, Bowman said.

Spectators pay a $3 entry fee to watch the game, and planned concessions include popcorn, hot dogs, and nachos. T-shirts are also going to be available.

Registration opens at 5 p.m. and runs until 6 p.m., with the games themselves starting at 6:30 p.m. For more information or forms, contact the school at 989-867-4234.